Santa Cruz police shooter was moving out, leaving town, sheriff says

SANTA CRUZ -- Jeremy Goulet was moving out of his house when Santa Cruz police detectives arrived at his door last week.

He lost his job at a coffee shop, had sold his motorcycle and was getting rid of his belongings in preparation for a flight to New Mexico where he has family, deputies said.

Investigators have not said if Goulet planned to move there, but Goulet told his housemates that he was leaving.

Tuesday, Santa Cruz County sheriff's investigators continued to fit the puzzle pieces together in the life of Goulet, the 35-year-old man who shot and killed Santa Cruz police Sgt. Loran "Butch" Baker and detective Elizabeth Butler on Feb. 26.

Sheriff Phil Wowak said it was not yet clear if Goulet planned to move because he was fired, because he was accused of groping his co-worker's roommate in her bed or because other relationships in Santa Cruz had soured.

A combination of those factors might have prompted his move, Wowak said.

"We're putting together the likely path that he was now jobless and he was in conflict with a number of people," Wowak said.

When the Sheriff's Office report is complete, it is expected to be given to the Santa Cruz County District Attorney's Office to show justification in the use of force against Goulet, who police shot and killed, and provide a more complete account for the Baker and Butler families.

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"It will give us the ability to work with the families in their grieving process about how this happened and why this happened," Wowak said.

"The really sad part is that the end result of the investigation doesn't change that we lost two wonderful people and excellent investigators."

Wowak said investigators now know that Butler and Baker had nearly every arrest and prosecution that Goulet faced, including in Hawaii, Oregon and Berkeley. Investigators were waiting to receive hard copies of police and military reports, but they already interviewed many authorities involved with those cases.

Last week, investigators requested in writing the reports from the Marine Corps and Army. It was unclear when those reports would arrive so the report to the DA's Office could be completed.

Goulet was accused of rape twice in the Army in Hawaii in 2006 but was discharged without a conviction, military officials have said. A conviction would have landed him life in prison. He was charged with attempted murder with a gun in Portland, Ore., in 2007, but was only convicted of misdemeanors, according to court records.

He moved to Berkeley in 2012, where he was accused of peering into a house. He took a plea deal for 20 days in jail and three years of probation.

Investigators interviewed many people Goulet knew including, his mother, twin brother Jeff and two men with whom he lived.

His father, Ronald Goulet, told the Associated Press that his son's voyeurism often got him in trouble.

"He wanted to restart his life. He was really upset at the system ... he already had anger management issues, so everything was coming to a head," Ronald Goulet said. "He swore up and down that he would not spend one more day in jail."

Tuesday, deputies said they were still looking for Santa Cruz residents who knew Goulet -- including 28-year-old Terisa "Lamb" Johnson.

Johnson, who has no connection to the detectives' murders, was an acquaintance and possibly dated Goulet, Wowak said. However, details of their relationship remain unclear because authorities have not contacted her.

Johnson was last known to be living in a Santa Cruz homeless camp and frequented Santa Cruz, Live Oak and Soquel, said Sgt. Patrick Dimick.

The Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office asks anyone with information to call the investigations division at 831-454-2311 or the anonymous tipline at 831-454-5995.